The Computing Historian Recovering Ideas We Threw Away

Paul Rony on Lessons from Computer History

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Rony. Paul is the founder and CEO of Kosmik, a tech startup based in France. Paul is also deeply knowledgeable about the history of computing and the ideas that animate it, and Samuel wanted to discuss these ideas with him.

Samuel and Paul had a chance to discuss how Paul became interested in computing history, his own experiences with older computers, and the importance of the intellectual history and ideas that suffuse these technologies. They talked about the value of playing with old computers, the changing nature of programming as well as what hasn't changed, preserving old software and hardware, and even the best ways of learning about the history of computing. And of course, they talked about HyperCard, one of the wildest pieces of software ever.